Education

M.Sc., University of Victoria, 1977. Thesis Title: The effects of wood deposition from a coastal log handling operation on the benthos of a shallow sand bed in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia.

B.Sc. (Honours), Queen's University, 1972.

Profile

Kathy Conlan studies communities of marine life on the sea floor of the Arctic and Antarctic and how natural or human-induced changes affect them. She and her colleagues have studied the renewing effect of ice scour, the enriching effect of submarine canyons, the interactions between introduced and native marine species, and the recovery of marine life from pollution. In the Canadian Arctic, she recently found a hotspot of sea floor life that includes the preferred food for Pacific grey whales when they travel from Mexico to Alaska each summer to feed. Areas like this may become an increasingly desirable destination as receding sea ice enables the whales to visit the Canadian Arctic longer each summer. In the Antarctic, Kathy discovered that the B-15 iceberg, the world's largest recorded iceberg, could affect life on the sea floor over 100 km away when it blocked access to their main food supply, the annual plankton bloom. Such long-reaching effects had not been seen before.

Kathy is also dedicated to outreach, mentorship and conservation. She is past Chief Officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students on Ice, is an Adjunct Professor at Carleton University and Université du Québec à Rimouski, and gives popular talks and "show and tells" at the museum.

Research

In the Museum's Blog

Marine biologist Kathy Conlan and her team found 531 species of worms, shrimps, starfishes and more in underwater canyons off Australia. This research helps us understand the importance of such canyons to marine life.